


Where It All Began

by Captain_McDanno91



Series: Finding Freedom [1]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Angst, Boys In Love, Established Relationship, Hurt Danny "Danno" Williams, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, Kidnapping, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rape, Rape Recovery, SEAL Steve McGarrett, Worried Steve McGarrett
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:14:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21912031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Captain_McDanno91/pseuds/Captain_McDanno91
Summary: When Danny goes missing, Steve and the team must do everything in their power to find him.
Relationships: Steve McGarrett/Danny "Danno" Williams
Series: Finding Freedom [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1578268
Comments: 21
Kudos: 125





	Where It All Began

**Author's Note:**

> Technically, this can be considered/read as a one-shot and I'm going to mark it as complete. However, if anyone is interested after I post this first bit, I do have more written.

Danny winced as he got into the Camaro so they could head back to headquarters. His leg is bothering him a lot more than usual today and right about now he just wants to wrap the rest of this case up so he can go home with Steve and spend the weekend recovering. After a case as frustrating and drawn out as this one was, the entire team could use the weekend off.

The driver's side door opened and Steve got in, pulling his seatbelt down over him and latching it into place. He glanced over to Danny as he started the car and saw the pained expression he was failing to hide.

“Your knee bothering you again?” Steve asks as he lowers his gaze and turns in his seat to look behind them so he can see out the back window to reverse the car. When he turns back around the hand he had on the back of Danny’s headrest comes down and starts rubbing soothing circles on his neck.

Danny closed his eyes and leaned into Steve’s touch. “Yeah. That last guy came out of nowhere and slammed right into me. I’ll be alright though.” He assured Steve, knowing the man would fuss over him. When they began their relationship, Steve had hidden a lot of his feelings, whether it was good or bad. Growing up the way he did and then moving straight onto the Navy did him absolutely no favors in the ‘expressing emotion’ department.

Now though, at two years in, Steve had no problems worrying openly about Danny and expressing that worry when he felt like the need arose. But Danny knew the hazards of the job, and he very well knew the hazards of working alongside Steve by now, so he wouldn’t complain. Much. He wouldn’t admit it out loud, but Danny sometimes enjoyed when Steve fussed over him, showed him he cared.

“There’s only paperwork left now, why don’t you let me and Kono take care of it? Chins gone down to booking with the last two guys we got to help HPD. Go home and relax, get off of your knee.” Steve told Danny. He hated paperwork above all else but he knew how much pain Danny was in.

Danny kept his eyes closed while he considered Steve’s offer. He sort of felt like it was going overboard, skipping out on his work and his team for a little bit of knee pain. After all, there wasn’t much he was going to be able to do about it at home that he wouldn’t at work, aside from taking a few pain killers and using a heating pad, so he thought maybe he should just stick it out. But then again, Steve _was_ offering.

“You know what,” he decided. “I think I will go home if it's really okay.” He gave Steve one last out.

“Sure thing, Danno,” Steve said, reaching his hand over the center console to rest it on Danny’s thigh. “I’ll get what I can done with Kono and then I’ll be home. The rest of it will wait until tomorrow.”

They pulled into the HQ parking lot, Steve just parking behind a row of cars since Danny was just switching spots with him. Both men got out and Steve held the door while Danny limped his way around the front of the car, sliding into the driver's seat and rolling the window down to say goodbye to Steve.

Steve leaned both arms on the windowsill of the car and bent down so he could see Danny. “I won't be too late so don’t worry about making us dinner. I’ll fix something as soon as I get home. You stay off that leg.”

Danny rolled his eyes. “Yes, mom.” He said, and Steve scoffed. He ignored the jibe in favor of saying goodbye.

“Don’t miss me too much.” He leaned in and gave Danny a quick kiss on the lips that was returned instantly. “I love you.”

“I love you too, babe. Hurry up with that paperwork so you can get home. I have plans for us this weekend that don’t involve work.” He said as Steve stood up, a mischievous glint in his eye.

Steve smirked. “Can’t wait. I’ll see you later.” And with that, he walked around the car and toward HQ.

Danny drove off, switching through the radio stations to find something he liked. Finally settling on a station, he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel in time with the music and pulled off into traffic, starting the twenty-minute drive home.

\---------- o ---------- o ---------- o ----------

An hour later Steve McGarrett was sitting in his office bored out of his mind. He was trying to get at least _some_ paperwork finished before calling it a night, but he hadn’t got very far. It was only seven o’clock, but the last hour had thoroughly reminded him of why he preferred to ‘delegate’ a lot of the paperwork to his partner.

Steve pushed his keyboard away and sat back in his seat, thinking of said partner. He and Danny had been together for two years now and he knew that Danny was the best thing to ever happen to him. He was itching to buy the man a ring, to make things official because in his gut he just knew Danny was the one – no matter how cliché it sounded. They worked so well together in every aspect of their life – as partners on the job, best friends, and as lovers – Steve thought they may as well have been made for each other.

The only thing stopping him from popping the question was Danny. There was no doubt in his mind that Danny loved him as much as Steve loved Danny but he also knew how strongly Danny felt about marriage since Rachel and if there was one rejection Steve could never handle, it was that of Danny. Danny had come to mean the world to him and losing him was not an option so Steve held off.

An urgent knock on the door brought Steve out of his thoughts of Danny and marriage, and it opened to reveal Kono looking as though she was about to cry.

“Kono?” he asked, heart starting to race and concern evident in his voice. If something was affecting Kono this bad, it must be pretty awful.

“Steve, it’s- it’s Danny.” She choked out. “They think he’s been in an accident. HPD’s been trying to call you.”

Steve jumped up from his chair and made his way over to her, confused. Why was she so upset if they didn’t know for sure? And why hadn’t he heard his phone going off?

“They think? What are you talking about, Kono?” he asked while he took his phone out of his back pocket. Sure enough, there were five missed calls and two voicemails from HPD. But nothing from Danny. He checked his volume to find it still on silent from when they were on the raid earlier and Steve swore.

Dammit.

Kono started explaining. “They found his car about ten miles from your house, he ran it into a pole.” She told him. Her eyes were darting around his office, looking anywhere but at him.

“Shit. Where is Danny? Is he hurt?”

At that Kono looked at him. “That’s the thing, Steve. They can’t find Danny. He’s gone.”

His heart skipped several beats and he jerked his hand back from where he’d laid it on Kono’s arm like he’d been burned. Danny was missing? Steve had _just_ seen him an hour and a half ago. What the hell happened?

He grabbed Kono by the elbow and led her over to the sofa that was in his office against the windows and sat her down. “Let me just…I need to…” he waved his phone at Kono in what he hoped was an explanation and she nodded.

Steve swiped his finger across the missed call and waited for Duke to answer. When he did finally pick up, Steve tried to stay calm so he could get as much information as possible.

“Sargent Lukela speaking.” Duke answered.

“It’s Steve. What do you know so far, Duke?’ he asked, skipping formalities. Duke would understand. “Any word on Danny?” God, Danny. Steve could hardly think for the panic taking over his body.

“Not yet, Commander.” Steve’s heart sunk a little. “A passerby called the crash in, but there’s been no sign of your partner. Has Detective Williams made contact with you at all?”

“No.”

“We’re still securing the area. He could have walked off disoriented and gotten lost. He may not know where he’s at. I’ll send you the address and you can come down here. I know you want to look for yourself.” Duke had worked with him plenty of times to know how Steve operated.

Steve had a request first. “Don’t let anyone touch the car. If he is- if he was taken, I don’t want…” Steve trailed off, a lump stuck in his throat.

Duke understood anyways. “Copy that, Commander.”

Steve hung up and looked at Kono. She had gathered herself while he was on the phone and had a determined look on her face. Good. They needed that right now.

“You’re with me. We’re going down to the crash site.” He explained while they headed for the elevator. “Duke is securing the area now.”

\---------- o ---------- o ---------- o ----------

The drive out to the accident scene was tense and silent with Steve and Kono both lost in their thoughts.

When they arrived and saw Danny’s car smashed into the pole for themselves, they both took a deep breath before getting out of Steve’s truck.

Steve walked up to the driver's side door that had been left open and looked around. Pulling on the pair of gloves that had been handed to him by HPD he moved the airbag out of the way and searched for clues. Any obvious signs of a struggle, blood, hair, fingerprints, anything that could help them find Danny. Unless Danny had been knocked unconscious he would have left _something_ behind.

He knew he should be optimistic, hope that Danny had just wandered off or that maybe a good Samaritan had helped him to the hospital. But then he saw Danny’s phone on the passenger seat and he knew, just knew that wasn’t the case. Someone had kidnapped Danny.

Kono opened the passenger door and leaned in. “There is paint transfer on the driver’s side, boss. And there are fresh skid marks. I think someone ran him off the road.” She speculated.

Steve sighed. That, paired with the vibe he was getting, and he knew she was right.

He nodded at her. “This was planned. I don’t know why, and I sure as hell don’t know how. He went home early today. It was a fluke. Someone had to be watching him.” But why? That was bugging the hell out of Steve.

Things around 5-0 had been relatively dull lately. A few arms dealers they had busted, and then the drug smuggling ring they had taken down today. But nothing that seemed to warrant retaliation like _this,_ like _taking_ Danny.

“Kono, get a sample of the paint back to Charlie and see if he can get us anything from it. I’m gonna call Chin and have him meet us down here. CSU has already started processing but I’m going to stay down here and help them until we find something.” Hopefully, someone left a print or a hair or something, he thought. Danny wouldn’t go quietly if he could help it.

Kono nodded and shut the door. Steve walked away to call Chin and inform him what was going on. When that was done, he went to start on the inside of the car, looking for anything that could help them find Danny.

\---------- o ---------- o ---------- o ----------

The first thing Danny noticed when he woke up, aside from the level of pain he was in, was that he was no longer in his car.

He stayed where he was for a moment, assessing the situation. His arms were pulled tightly behind his back and tied with a thick rope, and his legs were tied together at the knees _and_ at the ankles. He was slumped over half the bed he was laying against, but not entirely laying down, just his legs hanging over. Like someone had just thrown him here and left him.

Danny opened his eyes to darkness and waited for them to adjust. It was pitch black, wherever he was, aside from a tiny sliver of light shining underneath the door that was at the far end of the room. Even that small amount of light made his head pound harder than it was and Danny was sure he had a concussion.

He gets his hands underneath him to try and sit upright, crying out when pain explodes in his wrist and slumps back down. He must have sprained it. It hurt like hell but at least it didn’t feel broken. Taking a deep breath he tried again and managed to get most of the way up before falling off the bed sideways. He tried unsuccessfully to hold in the cry of pain from twisting his already pained knee.

The door banged open and Danny looked up to see two men coming in. The first one was the shorter of the two, probably just under six feet and 200 pounds. He had tanned skin, thick curly hair and – from what Danny could see – dark eyes. He was dressed in dark blue jeans and a white tee-shirt and looked like he was made of solid muscle. However, Danny had taken on bigger men and in worse shape than he was now.

The second guy, however, had at least eight inches in height and 75 pounds on him. They were very close in looks and Danny assumed they were cousins at the very least, if not brothers.

Danny swallowed. Bound the way he was he was totally helpless. He needed to figure out what these men wanted. “Who are you?” he asked.

The shorter of the two flicked on a switch and Danny blinked against the sudden light as the pain in his head went up several notches.

“Detective Danny Williams.” The short one drawled, dragging out the 'll’ sound. “You must have hit your head pretty hard. I do apologize for that. Would you like a drink of water?” he asked while going over to a table Danny hadn’t noticed before and grabbing a bottle of water.

“I’d much rather go home, so if you could untie me that’d be great,” Danny responded. He did need water but he didn’t want to take anything from these people that could potentially be drugged.

The short man threw the bottle of water towards Danny where it hit him in the stomach and rolled off of him, and guy number two chuckled from where he was leaned against the wall near the light switch.

The first guy tsked. “Sorry, Detective. I’m afraid you won’t be going home any time soon, if we _ever_ let you out of here. You see, I have plans. Plans that involve you that I’ve been working on for quite some time. You wouldn’t want to ruin those, would you?” he asked Danny sarcastically.

“Who are you?” Danny tried again, doing his best to stay calm.

“How rude of me! I’ve forgotten my manners. You’ll be our guest here for a while so we might as well be on a first name basis and seeing as how we know quite a bit about you, well….” He gestured at the bigger man. “This is Mike and I am Jon.”

Danny tensed as Jon moved towards him. “You don’t know anything about me. You’re just a lowlife criminal.” He goaded, trying to get them to give something more up, something useful. For the life of him, and it may very well be his life on the line, he couldn’t recall a Jon or a Mike.

God, his head was pounding.

Mike growled. “We know plenty about you, cop.” He said with a sneer. “We’ve been watching you for months. You, your daughter, Steve. We know all about you, faggot.” He spat.

And Danny didn’t like the sound of that. First of all, they knew about Grace _and_ Steve. How did he not know someone was watching him? Which brought him to the second point, someone who had been watching him for months? Criminals with patience were generally smarter than criminals who went off half-cocked with no plans.

Jon walked over to him and kicked at his legs, sending shocks of pain radiating through his knee and traveling up to his hip and his spine. “And now we have you right where we want you. You’re in the perfect position for our revenge. You’re going to get everything you deserve and more!” his voice got louder with every word he said until he was screaming at Danny, spittle flying from his mouth.

He shared a look of rage with Mike before speaking in a calmer tone. “Have at it,” he waved towards Danny. “But remember the plan.’

Mike nodded at Jon, and the beating began. Punches and kicks to his face and chest, knocking the breath from him. Danny turned towards the bed in an effort to protect his face, but Jon just kept pulling him back over.

“You’re only getting what you deserve, you filthy pig!” Jon screamed. “We’re just getting started.”

Danny felt his rib crack; he was sure his lungs were on fire. He could feel his face swelling and knew that even if they were to miraculously let him go right this minute, he probably wouldn’t be able to walk out for the pain in his knee.

The punches seemed endless and it took Danny a minute to realize when they had finally stopped. When he did, he spit the blood from his mouth. “I’m going to fucking kill you!” he said, wheezing. He couldn’t seem to catch his breath.

Jon and Mike both laughed. “No, but by the time we’re done, you’re going to be begging for us to kill _you._ ”

Danny’s vision swam and he felt more than saw both men haul him up by his arms and toss him on the bed, pushing and pulling at him until he was sitting facing them. Jon lifted the water bottle to his lips. “Drink it, you are going to need your strength.”

He knew they were right and he was so parched anyways that he couldn’t find it in himself to argue. He got a good couple of sips in – not nearly enough – before the bottle was taken away and put on the table across the room.

“That’s enough. Maybe when we are better acquainted I will think about untying your arms for sleep, but for tonight you will sleep like this. Goodnight, Detective.” Jon said in a sing-song voice. The men left then, shutting off the light and plunging Danny into darkness before they left.

He sat there, still struggling with his breath and trying to think of what he knew so far and any options he could see that he had. From the way the men were talking, they planned to keep him here for a while. At least that meant they wanted him alive, although Danny knew that meant little. The human body could endure a lot of pain before it gave up, especially if given breaks in between.

By now, Steve had found the Camaro and hopefully knew he was missing. But if Danny couldn’t figure out who these guys were, even _with_ names, how on earth was Steve going to find out who they were and where they were holding him?

Danny twisted his body around and lay down as cautiously as he could on his side, facing the door. He could feel himself slipping into unconsciousness and with the pain he was in, fighting it was not a plausible option. He prayed to a God he didn’t believe in that his captors wouldn’t come back for at least a few hours. The last thing Danny wanted was to be snuck up on while he was out cold.

Thoughts about getting free, and Steve coming to find him running through his head, Danny passed out.

\---------- o ---------- o ---------- o ----------

Steve was doing his best not to become frantic, but he’d been riding the edge of panic for so long now he wasn’t sure how much longer he would be able to manage.

Him and the rest of the 5-0 team had stayed at the scene for four hours before finally admitting defeat and going back to HQ. CSU hadn’t found anything useful, and for the first time in a long time Steve was at a loss for where to go from here. There were no prints, no stray hairs, no DNA…nothing to point Steve towards who had taken Danny or where they were holding him now. There hadn’t been a ransom call, no demand for money or other resources, nothing. Not that Steve had really been expecting that.

Everyone was back at HQ now, going through Danny’s case files to see if they could scrounge up a lead that way. See if maybe Danny had been looking into something that someone didn’t want him to and gotten to close to finding something he shouldn’t have.

It was 2 am now and Steve knew that his team was beat. He went out into the main area that held the tech table where Kono and Chin were, files scattered everywhere with an odd pile here and there.

“Let’s pack it up, guys. Go home. We aren’t gonna find anything tonight – not like this. We all need sleep. Let’s get some rest and start with fresh eyes tomorrow.” Not that Steve would be likely to get any sleep, not when he felt like he was giving up on Danny. And, how could he? Danny was _missing_. Still, he needed his team well rested so they didn’t overlook anything. They couldn’t afford to miss something. “I’ll call and make notifications in the morning. And I’ll ask the Governor to route all cases to HPD as well. This is all we need to focus on until Danny is found.” He met Chin’s eyes, then Kono’s, and after getting a nod from both he went back into his office and started shutting everything down.

\---------- o ---------- o ---------- o ----------

When Steve made it home forty-five minutes later, the silence in the house was deafening. He could hardly get his thoughts in order, trying to block it out. He was so angry, so petrified that Danny was somewhere being hurt, or worse. He didn’t know what to do.

Knowing he wouldn’t get any sleep he turned the downstairs tv on, not willing to go upstairs and see their empty bed, and collapsed onto the couch after kicking his shoes off.

There was so much going through his mind. Who had Danny? Where was he? What did they want from him? Not having any leads was going to kill Steve. Where do you start when you have nothing?

Steve must have fallen asleep at some point because when he opened his eyes the sun was shining through the house and the morning news was on.

He made his way slowly upstairs, dragging his feet and stripped off his clothes when he got to the bedroom.

 _Their bedroom_.

He sat on the edge of the bed in his boxers. He needed to shower so that he could start making phone calls but he couldn’t make his limbs move to get started.

How was he supposed to call Danny’s family and tell them he was gone? He put his head in his hands when he felt the tears prickling his eyelids. He couldn’t do this. He didn’t _want_ to do this. He wanted Danny to walk in the door and say it was all a joke.

He definitely didn’t want a life without Danny in it. Steve scrubbed his hands over his face and refused to let the tears fall. He headed for the shower, more determined and angry than ever.

Life without Danny was just not an option, so Steve would just have to pull it together and find him.

\---------- o ---------- o ---------- o ----------

Danny woke when the door to the room slammed open with a bang.

“Rise and shine, cop. I want to have a little fun.” Mike was alone this time.

Danny struggled to open his eyes, only managing when he was yanked up roughly by his hair. He grunted in pain but said nothing.

Mike hauled him up completely with an arm around his chest and then pulled a switchblade from his pocket. Danny squirmed, pulling at the ropes that still bound his arms and legs together.

Mike chuckled. “Don’t worry. This isn’t for you as long as you behave. I got something much better planned.” He said suggestively, grinding his hips into Danny’s ass. “I have a feeling you’ll enjoy it though. We’ve seen that pretty little boyfriend you have following you around like a puppy. Maybe well bring him in here next and make him watch.”

Danny tensed in horror. Torture he could endure, but what Mike was alluding to? No. Please, God no.

Mike maneuvered him until he was standing up on his own and facing the bed. He put the knife to Danny’s throat. “I’m going to cut the rope on your legs now, and you aren’t going to move an inch, or I’ll fucking slit your throat like a goddamned pig, got it?” he hissed into Danny’s ear.

Danny nodded a fraction even knowing he had no intentions of listening to the man. He was not going to go down easy no matter what Mike threatened him with.

Mike shoved him forwards and he collapsed on the bed. The fall sent a jolt of pain through his shoulders but Danny ignored it in favor of bracing himself for what he was planning to do next.

He felt Mike start cutting at the rope on his legs and waited, biding his time. He wasn’t sure this was going to work with his hands behind his back but Danny had to try. He wouldn’t be the person he was if he just laid there for Mike to do as he pleased.

As soon as the ropes fell free from his legs, Danny rolled over to his side and kicked out as hard as he could, catching Mike in the stomach. He thought if he could just get the man on the ground he would have a decent chance at incapacitating him and getting free.

Unfortunately, he forgot to account for the waist-high table that stood seven or eight feet from the bed. Mike flew backwards with a grunt of pain but caught himself on the table before he could crash to the floor. By the time Danny stood from the bed he was face to face with his very big, very angry captor.

“Fuck!” Mike yelled. “You just fucked up, you know that?!” He lunged at Danny and the two men fell back onto the bed. He got his hands around Danny’s neck and Danny felt him squeeze.

He put all his weight into thrashing around, trying to shake the larger man off of him or loosen his hold, but he was having no luck. He couldn’t breathe.

As he struggled for a breath that he knew wasn’t coming, he felt his awareness slip away from his grasp. His brain was screaming for oxygen and Danny stopped struggling, hoping Mike would let go before he killed him.

It was only another moment before everything went black, and Danny’s last thought was that at least _this_ was better than the pain of being raped.

\---------- o ---------- o ---------- o ----------

“Commander McGarrett, to what do I owe the pleasure?” Rachel stood just inside the door, hands on her hips.

Steve looked grim. The phone call to Danny’s family was still playing in his head, his promise to Clara to bring her son home circling his brain.

He had started to dial Rachel three times before deciding to tell her in person and driving over to her house. Then it had taken him ten minutes to work up the courage to even tell her. He had just gotten out of his truck when Rachel had opened the front door.

“Rachel, uhm, can I come in for a minute? We need to talk.” He stalled.

Rachel studied him for a short minute before stepping back to let him in. She led them to a lavishly decorated sitting room and offered him something to drink.

Steve nodded, grateful for the extra time to get his words together. “Water, please, would be fine.”

Rachel left to get his water and Steve sat, trying to quell his rising panic. He looked around for a distraction and heard music playing from somewhere in the house. Music he recognized immediately as the kind Grace played constantly, which meant she was home and not out at a friends like he had hoped.

Shit. Steve didn’t think he could do this if he had to tell Grace. If he had to look Danny’s baby girl in the eye and tell her that her Danno was gone, missing and probably hurt.

Rachel came back with two glasses of water and gave one to Steve.

“Thanks.” He told her as she sat on the sofa. He took a drink to clear his sudden dry mouth and then set his glass delicately on the coaster Rachel had set on the coffee table.

“Steve? What is it?” and fuck, he could hear the concern in her voice, knew she knew something was up.

“Danny’s missing.” He blurted. _How tactful._

Rachel froze. “I’m sorry?” she asked, even though Steve knew she hadn’t misheard him.

He took a deep breath. “Danny is missing. We found his car crashed into a pole a few minutes away from our house yesterday shortly after he left work but there has been no sign of him since then. I don’t have to tell you we’re doing everything we can to find him.”

She nodded at him and took a sip of her own drink. “What am I to tell Grace? Do you have any leads on where he is or maybe who took him? Is he hurt?” Her worry was nearly a tangible thing, but whether it was for Danny or more for Grace, Steve didn’t know.

Steve shook his head. “I’m sorry, I searched the crime scene myself. We have nothing to lead us to him. We did find his blood, but only a small amount of it and it was likely due to the crash.”

Rachel covered her mouth and stared at Steve, silently begging him to say it wasn’t true, that it was all just a bad prank. Steve himself wished for nothing more than that to be true. For Danny to knock on the door and say “Gotcha!”.

When Rachel said nothing more, Steve asked a question that he thought might get them a possible lead, if Rachel could remember. “I know it’s been a while, but do you know of anyone who would do this back from New Jersey? Do any of his past cases stand out? Anything at all that could help us?”

Steve had already called Danny’s old chief at Newark PD to have his old case files sent to Hawaii, but that would take time. They had to be dug out of storage, digitalized, and then sent to 5-0 so they could be sifted through to find anyone of interest. With the amount of cases Danny had worked in his time there, it could take months before they got through them all. Steve didn’t want to wait months with Danny out there somewhere, counting on Steve to find him.

Rachel thought about it for a moment and then shook her head sadly. “I’m sorry, I don’t know. Danny and I, we didn’t really talk about his work. I hated the violence all the time so we didn’t discuss a lot of his cases.”

Steve hid a flash of anger – Danny had told him all about Rachel never wanting to listen about his work, good or bad – and stood up to leave.

“Okay, that’s okay. It was a long shot. If you remember anything though, please don’t hesitate to call me no matter what it is. I will keep you informed. I will call you as soon as we find something.” He gave her an awkward half hug. “Don’t worry. We will find him.”

She walked him to the door and they said goodbye, Steve beyond grateful that Grace hadn’t showed. He left, intent on heading to HQ to look through everything they had again.

He would find something to lead him to Danny even if it killed him. If he had to look through evidence and old cases a thousand times, follow up on a million dead end leads he would, because he knew something was there, something that he wasn’t connecting the dots too.

Besides, it kept him from having to deal with the panic that he may never see Danny again, the worry that Danny was hurt, or the sick feeling in his gut that Danny could be dying this very moment.

It kept him from having to deal with the fact that he had failed Danny in every way possible.

\---------- o ---------- o ---------- o ----------

Danny came back to consciousness to a sharp pain in his shoulders. He was laying on his front and it was with panic that he realized he was now both naked and tied down to the bed. He wondered how long he had been out for Mike to strip him down and tie him spread-eagled the way he was.

His breathing sped up and he tried to listen to the sounds around him, trying frantically to hear if there was anyone in the room with him. He needn’t have tried so hard though. His fears were confirmed just seconds later when the mattress dipped to the left, just above his hip.

“Back with me, hmm?” Mike spoke, softer than Danny ever would have expected the man capable of. “It’s about time. I almost started without you.”

Danny heard a belt buckle being undone and then a zipper and felt bile rise in his throat. He wasn’t sure he was strong enough for what was inevitably coming next and tied up as he was he knew there would be no chance to escape. Danny wanted to cry when he felt Mike’s naked body straddle his, wanted to beg and plead with him, tell him he didn’t have to do this, that it didn’t have to be this way.

But he refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing Danny break. No, he would take whatever was thrown at him and pray that Steve was on his way.

Oh, God. Steve.

What would Steve think when he found out? Danny didn’t even want to consider it because deep down he already knew – Steve would be absolutely disgusted. He would look at Danny and know, without a doubt, that Danny was tainted. Disgusting. Damaged goods. And then, he wouldn’t want to be with Danny anymore.

He would leave.

Danny felt the tears fall without his permission. He didn’t want to lose Steve, not ever, but definitely not like _this._

The searing hot pain of a blade cutting into his flesh jerked him from all thoughts of Steve just then. Danny pushed his face into the mattress below him to keep from crying out.

Over and over again, Mike cut into the skin on his back, creating what Danny could only imagine were designs of his own making. By the fifth cut, Danny could no longer hold back his whimpers of pains. By the tenth, he was openly sobbing. When he realized Mike was becoming hard on top of him, getting off on his pain, Danny’s entire body went cold.

Finally, Mike stopped cutting and threw the blade on the bed well within Danny’s line of sight. Danny tried not to stare at the bloodied blade, tried to focus on the pain in his back instead. Leaning forward, Mike whispered into his ear. “Now for the real fun. I’m going to enjoy this, cop.”

Danny listened as Mike spat in his hand and then heard the telltale sounds of skin on skin as he covered his erection with the makeshift lube. He braced himself for the pain that he knew was coming as his cheeks were spread and Mike lined himself up, spitting once again.

Then, his world exploded in agony as Mike rammed himself all the way in and Danny couldn’t stop a scream as he felt like he was being split in two. Nothing could have prepared him for pain like this. He knew better than to tense up, knew that would only make the pain worse, but right now he couldn’t help it. He was having trouble focusing on anything but the pain ripping its way through his body.

“Damn your ass is tight, Detective. Boyfriend a little small in the dick department, huh?” Mike put both hands on his shoulders and used the leverage to thrust in and out, grunting. “Don’t you worry, now. After this, you’ll be ruined for him. He’s not ever going to want you again once I’m through with you, you’ll be so stretched out.”

Danny whimpered. It was in that moment that he felt his prostate being nudged and to his mortification, he felt his body reacting.

No. No, no, no. He willed his erection down. He was in so much pain he didn’t know how he was hard to begin with. This was bad, this was so very bad. He didn’t want this.

Danny broke. “Please just stop! Why are you doing this to me?” He begged. He hoped Mike didn’t notice his hard on. God only knew what he would do then.

Mike hummed in pleasure. “Because you earned it, Williams. This is nothing, _nothing_ , compared to what you put my brother through. You **deserve** this. Now,” he growled, punctuating his words with a particularly painful thrust. “Get up on your knees and act like you enjoy this.” He pulled out of Danny and Danny got up as he was told, tears leaking out of his eyes at the pain in his backside. Mike forced himself back inside roughly and Danny half-screamed, half-sobbed.

“Please, please, please.” Danny plead. He just wanted it to be over.

“That’s it,” Mike said, plastering himself across Danny’s back. “I love it when you beg.”

Mike reached around Danny’s hip, groping him, and Danny jerked as the man gripped his swollen cock.

“Ah, Detective, what’s this? Not pretending, are we? You really are enjoying yourself! That’s a nice surprise. I can work with that.” He told Danny with a chuckle.

He gripped Danny tighter and started stroking him, thrusting into him slower than before, deliberately dragging his cock over Danny’s prostate, stimulating him. Danny felt his orgasm building against his will no matter how much he tried to fight it. No amount of unpleasant thoughts was going to stop him tipping over the edge.

“Come on, Williams, you know you want to. Just think of how good it will be, to let go.” Montoya taunted, and Danny whimpered, trying in vain to hold back.

Seconds later Mike slid his hand over the sensitive underside of Danny’s cockhead and he was done for, coming on the sheets and crying all the while.

Mike growled out at him. “I knew you wanted it.” He said, letting go of Danny. Mike sat up, sweat dripping from his chest to Danny’s back, burning the cuts there. Danny whined in pain and asked for Mike to stop.

He laughed at that and scratched his hands down Danny’s back, diggings his nails into the cuts he’d made. He moved inside Danny then and Danny cried out, the overstimulation just adding to his pain.

It was several moments and what seemed like and endless number of thrusts later that Mike finally stilled, and Danny could feel the telltale warmth of semen spreading inside him.

Mike pulled out moments later and stood from the bed. Danny could hear him standing there breathing heavily from exertion and pulling clothes on.

“I think maybe I’ll leave you like this, tied up and ready for us. Maybe then you’ll learn your place, pig.” Footsteps sounded in the room, Mike walking to the door. “Don’t get too comfortable, we’ll be back.”

Danny sobbed when the door slammed.

\---------- o ---------- o ---------- o ----------

One hundred and seventy-two days later:

“Hey brah.” Chin said as he opened the door to Steve’s office. He’d spent the last twenty minutes watching his boss mutter under his breath, slamming his computer mouse around and he couldn’t take it anymore.

Ever since Danny had been taken, things at 5-0 had become…quiet. Tense. _Different_. Sure, they still solved cases. The Governor had given them an entire month to work on Danny’s case before he had asked them to resume normal activities.

Normal. Ha.

Nothing about this was normal, but they’d had no choice. But the longer Danny’s office sat empty, the worse Steve became. Reckless didn’t encompass his behavior anymore. He’d lost a good 30lbs, constantly had bags under his eyes and navigating a conversation with him about anything other than work was similar to walking through a minefield. Blindfolded.

Steve was losing it slowly. Chin and Kono were in a constant state of worry that was becoming the norm for them. They had received another batch of old files from Newark PD this week. They’d gone through all of Danny’s cases from 5-0 and HPD meticulously and found nothing. Then they’d moved on to Newark, working backwards from most recent. This was the last couple of cases they’d been waiting on to be digitalized. Steve regularly cursed Newark for being so ‘old fashioned’ and not having the digital files immediately, but since Danny’s old captain had agreed to digitize the files at all, they couldn’t say much.

So far, they had found nothing, they were down to the first few cases Danny had ever worked as a Detective, and the team was losing hope.

Steve shoved his keyboard away before looking up at Chin. “What?” he asked gruffly. Chin didn’t take it to heart though.

“You ok, boss?” and wasn’t that a stupid question?

Steve nodded slightly. “I’m fine, I just…. Fuck!” Abruptly he stood up and walked past Chin and to the tech table. A few commands later and he had 3 of the latest cases from Newark pulled up on the screen.

“This name, Adrian Montoya. Danny arrested him the second day on the job, selling drugs. It was his third probation violation but he still got off easy- only a year jail time. But” Steve swiped a crime scene photo onto the screen showing a man dead in a jail cell, blood everywhere. “He died two weeks before his release after being violated and shanked in his cell.”

Chin grimaced and looked away. The scene was brutal. But Steve wasn’t done.

“Now Adrian Montoya has two brothers, Jonathon and Michael. No criminal record on either so they’re of no interest. But two years after Adrian Montoya dies, this guy,” another swipe, another photo, this time a mug shot of one Stewart Lundsworth, “drops his name along with two others while being interrogated.”

Eyebrows furrowed. Chin thinks for a moment. “Being interrogated for what? And what are the other two names?”

Steve turned to Chin. “A string of break-ins he committed at local vet clinics. Said he was doing it for Adrian, Daniel, and William Montoya.” He let that sink in. He could almost see the gears turning in Chin’s mind.

“And who are Daniel and William?” he finally questions.

“That’s the thing. There is no Daniel or William Montoya. No father, uncle, cousins. No one by that name in that family.”

“And you think this is related to our Danny?” Chin cocked his head. “It could just be a coincidence, Steve.” Chin flipped through the files on the table, trying to see what Steve was seeing, although even he had to admit that it was a pretty big coincidence.

Steve shook his head though. “A dead guy and two people who don’t exist? No. They’re related, I just need to figure out how. Maybe question the family, the two living Montoya brothers. Hopefully they can give us something.”

Chin nodded, and Steve went back to his office to get a location on the Montoya brothers. Praying like never before that they would have something that could help find Danny.

\---------- o ---------- o ---------- o ----------

The next day, Steve burst out of his office, frantic. “Kono! Chin! I found him, I found Danny!” he said, typing commands into the tech table rapidly.

Seconds later, two license photos popped up on the screen along with bank statements and property holdings.

Chin glanced at Steve before reading the names on the licenses and sucking in a harsh breath. “The Montoya brothers? How? I thought we weren’t even looking at them?”

Steve just shook his head. “I don’t know, and we weren’t. But I think it’s revenge, for their brother dying. Danny put him away. They have him. I’m sure of it.”

Kono stepped up to the table, “Okay boss, what’s the plan?” She didn’t care anything for semantics. Not right now anyways. She wanted to know how and when they were going to get Danny back, and if she knew anything about her boss, it would be soon.

“This is a stealth mission. We take them quietly. As far as I can tell, they’ve been staying in a house borrowed from the guy who did the clinic break ins. Here’s the blueprints for that house, “ Steve said, swiping a set of prints onto the screen. “My guess is they have Danny here,” he pointed to the basement. “We’ll have thermal imaging before we go in, to confirm.”

Chin voiced a thought he knew everyone was thinking but no one wanted to address. “Steve, its been almost 6 months, are you sure Danny is still ----”

“Yes.” Steve nearly growled. “He is. I can feel it. The brothers would have no reason to stay on the island if he wasn’t.”

“Okay.” Chin raised both hands palms out. “When do you want to do this?”

“I want to go now, but we need to wait. We’ll go at 0200 hours.” Steve told his team. “So I want everyone to go home. Catch a few hours of sleep. I want us all at the top of our game for this. I’m gonna have a handful of HPD and swat assist - I don’t want these guys slipping away while we’re focused on Danny.” He would break everyone into teams later. Right now, they needed to take some time and get in the right mindset for the take down.

It was time to bring Danny home.

\---------- o ---------- o ---------- o ----------

The man sat bolt upright on the dingy bed he had, wary of the noise at his bedroom door. It was very rare that he had visitors in the middle of the night, but not completely unprecedented. He made himself as small and unassuming as possible, hoping that would shorten the length and severity of whatever was coming and he could hopefully get some sleep afterwards. Usually, only those truly depraved came in the dead of night.

The door clanged open and a flashlight shined in the room, moving rapidly around before settling on him.

“Danny?” someone called. He instantly recognized that voice and had to hold back a sob of despair.

Another dream then.

The light flicked on then and Danny closed his eyes and lay back down, determined to lay here till he woke up. He couldn’t deal with the heartbreak of another dream about Steve coming to save him. He just couldn’t.

“Danny?” the voice came again, closer this time, and Danny covered his ears.

A phantom dip on the bed behind him forced a tear to leak from his eye.

“Oh Danny. I’m so happy to see you. Sweetheart, I’m here to take you home. Please, look at me, Danny.” Steve said softly.

And because Danny could deny Steve nothing, even in his dreams, he did. He turned over underneath the ratty blanket he’d been given and drank Steve in. The man was dressed in cargo pants and tac gear, just like he was every time Danny had this dream.

“Oh, baby.” Steve choked out, searching his face, seeming to take in each new scar, cut and bruise. Danny knew his face was full of them. That was odd. Dream-Steve never reacted to Danny’s physical condition before.

Danny said nothing. He wouldn’t get all wrapped up in this again. He would let it run its course and deal with the disappointment when he woke up.

Steve reached a hand out to him and even though he tried not to flinch he knew he failed when Steve paused, sadness crashing over his features.

“I’m not going to hurt you, Danny. I’m just going to put my hand on your shoulder, okay?” Steve paused, waiting for Danny’s decision.

He wanted to say no. As soon as Steve touched him, the dream would end and he would wake up. That’s how it always worked.

He sighed and closed his eyes once more, nodding. He felt Steve’s hand rest on his shoulder, but it was different this time.

Warmer.

Startled, he opened his eyes. Steve was still sitting there the same as before, apprehension showing on his face.

Danny was struggling to process. “Steve?” he croaked.

Steve nodded. “Yes, Danny. I’m here. I’m getting you out of here.”

Steve saw the moment it clicked in Danny’s brain that this was really happening. He watched as Danny scrambled up on the bed as fast as his injuries would allow him. Steve held his arms out as Danny launched himself into the other man’s lap.

He pulled the naked man as close to his body as he could, grabbing the tattered blanket from the bed and wrapping it around Danny’s shaking form.

“Shhh.” He soothed, whispering into Danny’s ear. “It’s okay now. I got you. I’m not ever going to let you go again, you hear me? Ever.”

Danny let out a sob and Steve murmured more calming words, muffled against Danny’s hair, while running a hand up and down Danny’s back. He could feel the slight ridges on the mans back amongst the knobs of his spine and ribs and had to swallow back bile, wondering just what they had done to his Danno.

Just then Kono came in and Danny whimpered, trying to burrow even closer to Steve. Steve held her off with a hand. “It’s okay. Danny, it’s just Kono.”

Kono waited for Steve to acknowledge her before she started updating him. “We’re all good boss. We need an ambulance for one of our perps, but we got them both. Is there anything I can do down here?” she questioned.

Steve nodded. “Call for an extra bus, and make it quick. He is going to go into shock if we aren’t careful. Until then just wait outside. The less stimulation the better.” She turned to walk back outside and Steve stopped her. “Kono?”

“Yeah, boss?”

“Warn me, will you? Before the medics just barge in here?”

Kono agreed with a nod and left the room, and Steve tightened his arms around Danny. “Hey buddy, she’s gone. It’s just us in here so you can relax now. She is gonna get you some help. We’re going to go to the ER and get you checked out and then I am going to take you home. Does that sound good?”

There was a long silence and Steve thought Danny might have fallen asleep, but then Danny mumbled something he didn’t quite catch.

“What was that, babe?”

“Do’n wanna ER.” Danny whined, and Steve’s heart broke a little for the man in his arms. He knew the loud, bright hospital was the last place Danny would want to go but it was unavoidable in his current condition.

Steve hated what Danny was about to go through – the photographs, the rape kit, the evidence collection – but they needed all they could get so they could nail these guys and put them in HCF for life for what they had done to Danny.

He ran a hand over Danny’s matted hair. “I know you don’t, Danny, I know. But can you do it for me? I need to know you are okay so I can take you home and take care of you there. Can you do that for me?” Steve knew it was a dirty trick, but it was all he had.

Danny took in a couple of quick, shallow breaths and nodded slowly. For the first time all night Danny looked directly at Steve. “Don’t leave me?” he asked, voice small as though he thought Steve was going to refuse him.

Leaning in to kiss his forehead, Steve closed his eyes to stop the tears falling. He hated seeing his Danny so broken. “Never,” He whispered. “I’ll stay with you the whole time.”

Danny nodded, curling back into Steve’s chest just as Kono knocked on the door to alert them EMS was there. Danny tensed and gripped tightly onto the front of Steve’s shirt and he steeled himself, preparing for the long morning they had ahead of them.

Steve knew better than to think it would go smooth. Not after what Danny had been through.

None of that mattered to him though. He had Danny back in his arms where he belonged and that’s what mattered. Whatever came next they would get through together.

\---------- o ---------- o ---------- o ----------

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed, tell me what you think!!


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